Closures for containers

ABSTRACT

A dispenser and cover of known kind are provided with a cover which is difficult for children to remove. The dispenser may be of the known kind comprising a container and dispensing means operable to discharge the contents of the container. The contents may, for example, be pressurised and discharged as an aerosol. The cover, when in place, prevents operation of the dispensing means. The invention provides interengaging retaining means on the cover and the dispenser, one being a lug and the other a socket, and also provides resilient means, such as resilient fingers on the cover, which urges the lug into the socket. To remove the cover it must be pressed against the action of the resilient means to remove the lug from the socket, and rotated while the pressure is maintained, an action which children find difficult.

United States Patent [1 1 Treanor 451 Apr. 16, 1974 CLOSURES FOR CONTAINERS Eugene Joseph Treanor, Burnham-on-See, England [73] Assignee: Makap Limited, London, England [22] Filed: Aug. 7, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 278,378

[75] Inventor:

' [52] US. Cl., ..-222/153, 222/182 2,317,287 4/1943 McCombs...' ..2l5/44 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-John P, Shannon Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Scrivener, Parker, Scrivener & Clarke ABSTRACT A dispenser and cover of known kind are provided with a cover which is difficult for children to remove. The dispenser may be of the known kind comprising a container and dispensing means operable to discharge the contents of the container. "The contents may, for example, be pressurised and discharged as an aerosol. The cover, when in place, prevents operation of the dispensing means. The invention provides interengaging retaining means on the cover and the dispenser, one being a lug and the other a socket, and also provides resilient means, such as resilient fingers on the cover, which urges the lug into the socket. To remove the cover it must be pressed against the action of the resilient means to remove the lug from the socket, and rotated while the pressure is maintained, an action which children find difficult.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures CLOSURES FOR CONTAINERS This invention relates to dispensers and covers, of the kind in which the dispenser comprises a container and FIG. 6 is a section along the line 66 of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is a section along the line 77 of FIG. 6. The container shown in FIG. 1 is of a well-known dispensing means operable to discharge the Contents of kind and is intended for containing a liquid to be disthe container, and the cover is mountable on the dispenser so as to prevent operation of the dispensing means.

It is at present normal practice to provide covers which press onto dispensers or are screwed onto dispensers, but which can readily be removed even by children. It will beappreciated that many dispensers, particularly those which discharge their contents as aerosols, are potentially dangerous to children, and that for example children may hurt themselves by inadvertently discharging sprays into their eyes. It is an object of the present invention to provide covers which are more difficult for children to remove than those now in normal use.

According to the present invention there is provided a dispenser and cover, the dispenser comprising a container and dispensing means operable to discharge the contents of the container, and the cover being mountable on the dispenser so as to prevent operation of the dispensing means, there being retaining means on the cover and retaining means on the dispenser, one of the said retaining means comprising a lug and the other of said retaining means comprising a socket, the cover being rotatable relative to the dispenser as between a retaining position in which the lug is in register with the socket so as to prevent removal of the cover and a releasing position in which the lug is not in register with the socket so as to permit removal of the cover, and there being resilient means operative between the dispenser and the cover to urge the lug into the socket when the lug is in registerwith the socket, the arrangement being such that the cover can be removed from the dispenser only after the cover is pressed against the action of the resilient means to cause the lug to be removed from the socket and the cover is subsequently rotated relatively to the dispenser to bring the cover from its retaining position to its releasing position.

The dispensing means may, for example, comprise a manually operable pump; or the contents of the container may be pressurised in which case the dispensing means may comprise a valve operable to release the contents of the container. The container may contain a charge and'a propellent. or a charge which is volatile and which itself constitutes a propellent. The charge may be discharged in any desired form. for example as an aerosol, or a stream of liquid, powder or froth.

The invention will -now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section through the upper part of the container of a dispenser, the dispensing means being omitted for clarity,

FIG. 2 is a side view to a somewhat smaller scale of the uppermost part of the container shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is similarto FIG. 2 but illustrates an alternative construction,

FIG. 5 is an underneath plan view of a cover for the container shown in FIG. 1, but-to a slightly smaller scale than FIG. 1,

pensed as an aerosol, and a propellent fluid. The container, which is closed at the bottom, has a cylindrical side-wall 10 connected by a rolled edge 11 to a domed top 12. An upstanding neck 13 at the upper end of the top 12 is connected by a rolled edge 14 to a closure 15 having a moat 16 around a central projection 17 on which valve mechanism of standard form (not shown) is mounted. In order to avoid any possibility of leakage and consequent loss of pressure a rubber or rubber-like sealing ring 18 is incorporated in the rolled edge 14.

The container is provided with a cover as illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7. The main body of the cover is of conventional shape and comprises a frusto-conical portion 19 with a circular top 20 and a depending peripheral flange 21. The portion 19 may be externally ribbed to assist the user in manipulating the cover. Covers with bodies of that general shape are already known, and the arrangement is such that when the cover is placed on the container it is held in place by the frictional engagement between the flange 21 and the rolled edge 14.

The present invention, however, provides retaining means which provide a more positive engagement between the cover and the container, the arrangement being such that a child finds it difficult or impossible to remove the cover. Retaining means are provided both on the container and on the cover. The retaining means on the container comprises a pair of diametrically opposed lugs 22 pressed out from the material of the closure 15 at the rolled edge 14. One of the lugs 22 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the other lug, which is on the opposite side of the edge 14, is of the same shape. Each lug 22 has a leading portion 23 which is inclined as shown in FIG. 2, and a horizontal portion 24. The retaining means on the cover comprises a pair of diametrically opposed formations 25 on the inside of the flange 21. As shown in FIG. 7 each formation 25 has an upwardly opening socket 26 bounded on one side by ramp 27 and on the other side by a stop 28 which rises above the level of the top of the ramp.

-The cover is also provided with resilient means in the form ofa ring of resilient fingers 29 which depend from the frusto-conical portion 19 to a level somewhat below the bottom of the flange 21. In the cover illustrated there are eight fingers, but the number used may be varied as required. Similarly the shape of the fingers may be varied from the tapered shaped illustrated. Nevertheless the arrangement is preferably such that the cover can be moulded from a suitable resilient plastics material, such as polypropylene, using a simple two-part mould with a straight draw but without any moving cores. Although there is a little overhang in the mould above the formations 25 it is normally possible to deform the moulded cover resiliently so as to spring the cover from the mould without damage'to those formations.

When the cover is to be mounted on the container the flange 21 is positioned so that it surrounds the rolled edge 14, while the formations 25 are spaced away from the lugs 22. The lower ends of the fingers 29 touch the bottom of the moat 16. The cover is then rotated clockwise, as viewed in plan, so that the formations 25 engage the lugs 22. Initially the tips of the ramps 27 engage the upper edges of the leading portions 23. Further rotation of the cover causes the cover to be drawn downwards, a movement which is resisted by the resilient deformation of the fingers 29. Rotation of the cover is continued until the lugs 22 engage the stops 28. If the cover is then released the resilient fingers 29 cause the cover to rise slightly, thus bringing the lugs 22 into the sockets 26. The fingers 29 remain somewhat deformed.

To release the cover it is first necessary to push the cover downwards so that the lugs 22 are removed from the sockets 26 and then to turn the cover anticlockwise while retaining the cover in its depressed position. This combined-depression and rotation is an action which many children often find surprisingly difficult if not impossible. Rotation of the cover is then continued until the formations 25 are free from the lugs 22, whereupon the cover can be lifted from the container.

Many modifications can of course be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example the number of co-operating' retaining means may be varied. in the example illustrated there are two sets of retaining means, but there may well be three or four or even more. Alternatively there may be a single set, but then it is normally necessary to provide some additional means such as simple co-operating lugs to make it impossible for the cover to be'removed by tilting it relatively-to the container.

It may be found that lugs of-the kind shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 tend to weaken the rolled edge 14, and lower the security afforded by the sealing ring 18. In that case each lug may be pressed from the closure in such away that the resulting hole in the material of the closure is bounded all round, instead of being open on one side as in the arrangement illustrated. Alternatively the lugs may be pressed from the material solely by deformation, without the material being broken or piered. Yet again it may be considered undesirable to modify existing types of container by the provision of lugs pressed from the material of the container. In that case the modification illustrated in H6. 4 may be employed. Here there is a ring 30 of a relatively hard plastics materialwhich has integral lugs 31 (only one of which is visible) each lug having operative faces of shapes similar to those of the lugs 22. The ring 30 is preformed and is pressed into position around the rolled edge 14, being retained in place by friction.

In further modifications the lugs 22 and formations 25 may be replaced by lugs and complementary formations of the kinds described and illustrated in British Pat. specification No. 1,104,001 in the name of E.J.- Treanor who is also inventor of the present invention. That arrangement makes it still more difficult for children to remove the cover.

Another known type of cover has a cylindrical outer wall, the lower end of which embraces the rolled edge 11 and theupper end of which is closed by a circular disc. The cover illustrated may be modified to provide a larger cover of that shape, the top 20 being extended outwards and being provided at its periphery with a depending cylindrical wall. With such an arrangement it would be possible to replace the fingers 29 by fingers outside the portion 19 and engaging the domed top 12 rather than the bottom of the moat 16. In a further modification the co operating retaining means may be provided on the rolled edge 11 and on the inside of the cylindrical wall of the cover. Such an arrangement is not normally satisfactory, however, as the formations are too readily accessible when the cover is in place, and there is the danger of a child pulling the cylindrical wall outwards so as to release the retaining means from one another.

In each of the versions illustrated and in each of the modifications outlined above the lugs are on the container and the sockets are on the cover. This arrangement can well be reversed, the lugs then being on the cover and the sockets being on the container.

I claim:

1. A dispenser and cover, the dispenser comprising a container and dispensing means operable to discharge the contents of the container, the cover comprising a unitary moulding of a resilient plastics material and having a top with a depending peripheral flange, the cover being mountable on the dispenser so as to pre vent operation of the dispensing means, there being retaining means on the inside of the flange and integral with the flange, and retaining means on the dispenser, one of said retaining means comprising a lug and the other of said retaining means comprising a socket, the cover being rotatable relative to the dispenser as between a retaining position in which the lug is in register with the socket so as to prevent removal of the cover and a releasing position in which the lug is-not in register with the socket so as to permit removal of the cover, and a plurality of resilient depending fingers integral with the cover and operative between the dispenser and the cover to urge the lug into the socket when the lug is in register with the socket, the arrangement being such that the cover can be removed from the dispenser only after the cover is pressed against the action of the resilient fingers to cause the lug to be removed from the socket and the cover is subsequently rotated relatively to the dispenser to bring the cover from its retaining position to its releasing position, the dispenser further comprising sheet-metal components joined by a rolled edge of circular shape, the retaining means on the dispenser being formed by deformation of said rolled edge. 

1. A dispenser and cover, the dispenser comprising a container and dispensing means operable to discharge the contents of the container, the cover comprising a unitary moulding of a resilient plastics material and having a top with a depending peripheral flange, the cover being mountable on the dispenser so as to prevent operation of the dispensing means, there being retaining means on the inside of the flange and integral with the flange, and retaining means on the dispenser, one of said retaining means comprising a lug and the other of said retaining means comprising a socket, the cover being rotatable relative to the dispenser as between a retaining position in which the lug is in register with the socket so as to prevent removal of the cover and a releasing position in which the lug is not in register with the socket so as to permit removal of the cover, and a plurality of resilient depending fingers integral with the cover and operative between the dispenser and the cover to urge the lug into the socket when the lug is in register with the socket, the arrangement being such that the cover can be removed from the dispenser only after the cover is pressed against the action of the resilient fingers to cause the lug to be removed from the socket and the cover is subsequently rotated relatively to the dispenser to bring the cover from its retaining position to its releasing position, the dispenser further comprising sheet-metal components joined by a rolled edge of circular shape, the retaining means on the dispenser being formed by deformation of said rolled edge. 